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Philips Multipair Bluetooth adapter pairs with three devices at once, turns your stereo into a wireless speaker

Philips aims to make it easier for friends to mix and match playlists with 3 device Bluetooth dongle

Bluetooth speakers can be a hassle if more than one person wants to share their music; it’s a fiddly process of disconnecting, pairing and reconnecting just to get going, which has to be repeated when it’s time to switch back – most likely because your song choices were deemed “too out there” and “killing the vibe”. Just us? Anyway, that’s not the case with the Philips Multipair Bluetooth adapter; it lets you connect up to three devices at once and can turn any stereo into a wireless speaker.

The hockey puck-shaped hub has optical and coaxial audio outputs, letting you connect digitally to a compatible stereo or amplifier, and also includes RCA and 3.5mm analogue connections for an older system or set of PC speakers. Once plugged in, you’ll be able to pair up to three devices simultaneously using NFC and Bluetooth.

One person can start playing a track, but if someone else wants to play something else they can take over the playlist with their own device. The song on the original device will stop and the new one will start up, without kicking you off the Bluetooth connection. Philips thinks it’s ideal for parties, but we could see it being useful for shared apartments or families that all like to listen to their personal tracks through a big sound system once in a while.

Naturally as it uses a Bluetooth connection, you’ll be able to stream from all the usual streaming music services like Spotify, and if your device supports it you’ll be able to stream in high quality aptX too.

The Multipair Bluetooth adapter is expected to cost €49 when it launches across Europe, meaning it should arrive in the UK for around £40.

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News | IFA